Best of Artemis, week ending 19th May 2013

The reinsurance and capital markets convergence sector continues to grow strongly as the market matures and captures an increasingly large share of global reinsurance renewals. As always, you can read every market news story and article here on the Artemis news blog, subscribe to our weekly email newsletter updates and for your convenience here are the ten most popular news articles from the last seven days on Artemis.

Top ten most viewed articles on Artemis.bm, week ending 19th May 2013:

1. AQR Re hires two reinsurance veterans to senior management team
   Bermuda headquartered AQR Re, the reinsurance arm of Greenwich, CT investment management firm AQR Capital Management, has announced the hiring of two senior reinsurance industry executives to its senior management team, expanding its presence in Bermuda.
2. Tokio Millennium Re collateralized & ILS solutions arm to remain in Bermuda
   Bermuda based reinsurer Tokio Millennium Re Ltd. (TMR) has announced its plans to change domicile and move its country of incorporation from Bermuda to Switzerland. It’s recently formed collateralized and ILS focused Tokio Solutions arm will remain on the island.
3. Sirius Group launches reinsurance capital markets and ILS efforts
   Sirius International Group, Ltd., the Bermuda based reinsurance arm of the White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd., is the latest reinsurer to announce the launch of an initiative seeking to capitalise on the convergence of reinsurance and capital markets.
4. Buyers unfamiliarity with ILS boosted Japanese reinsurance rates
   At the recent April 1 reinsurance renewals the insurance-linked securities market and third-party reinsurance capital sources have had a marked impact on renewal rates in many regions of the world.
5. $20m Sunshine Re Ltd. catastrophe bond privately placed by Towers Watson
   The capital markets and private cat bond specialist arm of professional services firm Towers Watson has completed the issuance and placement of its fourth privately placed catastrophe bond transaction, the $20m Sunshine Re Ltd. (Series 2013-1).
6. As primary insurance grows, reinsurers and capital markets need to be ready
   The world’s largest reinsurer Munich Re expects the global insurance market to grow strongly over the rest of this decade as emerging economies come up to speed, according to a study published today.
7. Above average Atlantic hurricane season activity expected: AccuWeather
   Weather forecaster AccuWeather Inc. has joined other forecasters of tropical cyclone and hurricane activity in predicting a 2013 Atlantic hurricane season with above average levels of activity.
8. Alternative reinsurance capital could capture 30% of mid-year renewals
   A report, published by the North America research team of financial services and investment banking firm Morgan Stanley, suggests that the mid-year reinsurance renewals could see the participation of alternative reinsurance capital grow to as much as 30%.
9. Details emerge on Residential Reinsurance 2013 cat bond from USAA
   We now have more detailed information about the recently launched catastrophe bond transaction from U.S. primary insurer and military focused mutual insurer USAA.
10. Strong catastrophe bond issuance stimulates secondary portfolio rebalancing in April
    Liquidity increased in the secondary market for catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities notes in April, helped by continued strong primary cat bond issuance stimulating portfolio rebalancing among investors looking to accommodate new deals.

This is by no means every article published on Artemis during the last week, just the most popular among our readers. To ensure you always stay up to date with Artemis subscribe to our weekly email newsletter update.

Please take a few minutes to respond to our simple, anonymous poll by telling us what volume of catastrophe bonds you think will be issued in 2013?

If you’re looking for details on catastrophe bond and ILS transactions our Deal Directory has more than 280 listed.

Get listed in our MarketView directory of professionals.